Murder Connections
by lovebeauty011
Summary: Murder & kidnapping in New York is always normal right...unless it's ancient vampires. In 4 chapters, I was too lazy to post each chapter separately.


**Chapter 1**

She was sitting again, at her desk, trying to figure some new material for her new novel. It was useless. She could sit here for hours and type two sentences. The material needed to be realistic. That is why every time there was crime or a murder that occurred; she would be the first one there.

Sighing in frustration, she left her computer and switched on the TV. Maybe something new would be on. Maybe she would find something. It was terrible when you could not think of any more ideas for your own book. Flopping down on the couch she picked up today's paper and on the front cover was what she was looking for.

"_Murder on West 109__th__ Street"_

New York: A Caucasian man and two women were found dead in alleyway behind Rack and Soul on the cross of 109th about 8:30 a.m. Tuesday April 27. Authorities have not released additional information about the murders. More soon.

A murder? This was good news and 109th was not too far from her. Grabbing her stuff, she headed out and grabbed a taxi. Telling him where she wanted him to take her, they sped off in that direction. Grinning to herself, she knew this could be the big break. The types of murders she look for were ones like this; very little information, because the authorities always had something to hide or they did not know what to tell the public.

Of course, her biggest obsession was vampires. A close friend got her hooked on them when they were in high school. It was the reason why she hunted after crime scenes that had mysterious deaths. She was hoping to find some proof that vampires existed. Although, her search was futile. If vampires did exist, they kept very quiet and blended into society.

They arrived at the crime scene and cops had flooded the place. Lucy walked closer to the tape and looked around; she was hoping to not be caught sneaking under it. Touching the yellow tape, she lifted it up and a hand grabbed my arm. Following the hand, up the arm, and to a face that she saw from a couple of weeks ago.

"I wouldn't do that if I were you," he said.

"And why not?" she asked.

"Because you're not a cop," he said walking under the tape.

"Hey! What about you? You're not a cop," she called out.

He turned around and looked at her through sunglasses. "No I am not, but I am a PI so I can cross the tape."

He kept walking toward the crime scene until a cop stopped him. "Hey buddy, where do you think you are going?"

"I'm here to check out the crime scene and offer my services," the man said.

"Uh huh, sure. What's your name hot shot?" the cop asked.

"Shayne Ladd. I'm a private investigator," he said showing his badge. The cop snatched the badge from his hand and stared hard at it. He looked at Shayne several times before he gave the badge back.

"All right, so what do you want to know?" the cop asked. As they walked off talking, she became intrigued. A PI? He could tell her information that cops could not.

Like the rest of the onlookers, she stayed there watching the scene until the cops shooed us away. She watched them loaded the bodies into the corner's truck, close the door, and drive off. She carefully made a note to talk to a friend at the morgue. She prayed he would let her see the bodies.

Later that night she was at the morgue, waiting on her friend to let her in. He had promised ten minutes with the bodies. Ten minutes was all she needed to look and see if she found her proof. Sighing, she stood there in the hallway, waiting on her friend to let her in. She looked at her watch, how much longer was he going to make her wait? Suddenly, she saw a shadow behind her and turned around sharply. It was the PI from earlier. What was he doing here?

"What are you doing here?" she hissed.

"I should ask you the same question," he said pulling her aside.

"That's private information." she replied

"Is it? It would not have anything to do with the crime scene from earlier," he asked frowning.

"Maybe. So what if it does? I could not get into see the scene earlier. I thought I would call my friend and see if he would let me in." she said.

"Right. Why do you want to look at the bodies anyway?" Shayne asked.

"I'm an author and I write about crime, murder, and mystery. This particular crime is a mystery and I want a good visual of the bodies for the book," she said.

"An author huh? What's your name?"

"Lucy Adams," she said.

"Didn't I see you two weeks ago at another crime scene?" Shayne asked.

Before she could answer, the tech popped his head out of the room and motioned for them to come in. Sighing, Lucy walked away from Shayne and scooted past the tech. Shayne sighed and followed her. The room was cold when she stepped in. Shivering slightly, she dared not to look back at Shayne.

"Remember you got ten minutes and that's all," the tech said nervously.

"Okay, Travis, I remember. So what can you tell me what happened?" she asked.

"Um, well…" he paused seeing Shayne walk in, "In all the bodies the coronal arteries were severed. Which you can tell by the bite marks…I mean the puncture wounds."

"How much blood loss?" Lucy asked examining the puncture wounds.

"The two women were ex-sanguinated and the man was a Class III Hemorrhage. This means that involves loss of 30-40% of circulating blood volume. When that happens, a transfusion is necessary, but no transfusion happened. Whoever attacked left the man to die slowly. It seems he/she was more interested in the women. You can tell by the scratches on their hands that they tried to fight their perpetrator," he explained.

She went to touch the body and pushed her hand away. "Don't touch the body, please."

"Anything else about the bodies?" she asked him. Travis shook his head no and she nodded.

"Well that's all, I guess. Thanks Travis," she said walking out of the room.

Stepping out of the room, she breathed heavily. She hated being around dead bodies, but sometimes it was necessary to look at them for reference. She pulled out a notebook and wrote down the information that Travis gave her. This could help. Little did he know she had snuck a few pictures of the puncture wounds.

As she walked down the hallway, she thought to herself. _Why did he say bite marks and then correct himself and say puncture marks? Is there something he is not saying? _She did not realize she was lost in thought until someone grabbed her arm. Screaming she turned around and saw Shayne. "Oh my! You startled me."

"Did you get your information? Shayne asked.

"Yes, I did." She said.

"You might want to delete those pictures you took of the bodies. You know, just in case," Shayne said.

"How do you know I took pictures? Were you watching me that closely," Lucy asked.

"Well it was pretty obvious…"

"No it wasn't. I had my phone hidden. You were watching me!" she accused.

"Yes, so what? I don't see why you need that information anyway…you're just a writer," he countered.

"And you're a PI; why do you need to see the bodies?" she asked

"I'm covering the case probono. That's all you need to know," he said.

She looked at her watch. "Well it's late and I'm going home." She walked off and left Shayne standing there. Shrugging he turned around and headed back in to talk to the coroner.

If this Shayne was not going to tell her anything then she would have to do some investigating of her own. The first couple of days, she made a few calls to set up appointments to acquire tapes, audio recorders, and setting up her old dark room. Then she decided that for the next few days she would sneak around and followed him.

Following him was not hard; it is not as if he had to cover his tracks. When he was not in his office, he was out scouring the neighborhood and talking to witnesses. A few times, she had to duck around so she was not spotted. The audio recorder helped a lot since she could not get close enough to actually hear anything. The more information she found out the more she became intrigued. She went home every night exhausted from chasing Shayne around all day.

She had been sneaking around for almost two weeks before she was caught. It happened to be her mistake. She was standing outside the crime scene—once again, when he turned around and spotted her. This time she had a camera to make notes on the scene. She was prepared and had an old press pass from her days as a celebrity photographer. She was snapping photos when Shayne just happened to turn around.

"What are you doing here?" he asked coming toward her.

"I'm here taking photos."

"Why have you been following me for two weeks?" he demanded.

"What? Can't I follow you around for information?" she spat.

"No you cannot follow me. You are a civilian and I am a PI. I cannot give you any information about the case."

"I didn't ask you to give me information. I was just following you," she said.

"Well stop following me. I do not want you involved or around me while I am on this case. Just go home Lucy. Go home and stay home," Shayne told her walking away.

"Listen here, buddy you cannot tell me what to do. You do not know me and you have no right to tell me to leave. I am doing my own investigation and it is helping me out with my novel," she said storming after him.

"Would you please leave, I'm trying to work. I'd like to finish up today," he said turning to her.

"Well I'm trying to work, so you leave."

Growling at her. "Why do you have to be so difficult?"

"I am not being difficult, I just want to get some field experience for my novel," she said.

"You're lying. You have another reason to follow me, but I cannot talk about this. I am leaving and you might want to stop recording everything that is said."

"I am not lying and even if I was, how would you know? I'm only recording because I can't write that fast," she asked.

"I just know, okay. Now would you please leave and go home. This is none of your concern," Shayne said.

"Oh so this case is dangerous? Is that why you're tying to make me leave?"

"No comment and that means I'm not saying anymore about the case. I am not going to say it again. If you don't leave, I will be forced to call the cops and say you're stalking me," he threatened.

"You wouldn't dare?"  
I would and I'm doing it now," he said pulling out his phone.

"Okay, fine, you win. I'll go," she said.

"Thank you," he said turning back to his work.

Feeling disgusted at him, she left the scene. She knew that he would have called the cops on her. He was not lying when he said that she had a different motive for following him. Getting in a cab, she swung by a friends to get the audio recording on tapes. After getting the recordings on tape, she headed home.

Entering her loft, she sat her stuff down and ordered in. She could not look at the pictures until she had them developed; instead, she started listening to the tapes. She was listening for words like vampire, blood, and biting. She sat there for hours listening to the tapes repeatedly until she heard someone say 'they heard screaming and saw a figure biting the victim." "Sounds like a vampire attacked her".

This is what she needed. However, it was not plausible that vampires existed; it did sound an awful lot like the vampire description. She needed to see the crime scene again. Instead of daylight this time at night. Looking at her watch, she noticed it was only ten-thirty. It was not too late for her to see the crime scene again. Maybe if she was lucky, she might run into whoever did the crime.

Taking a cab, she headed back to the crime scene. When she got there, she looked at the back alleyway and sighed. This was not going to be fun. Stepping out of the cab, she walked slowly down the alleyway behind the restaurant. Keeping her eyes opened, she looked for any clues that could indicate a vampire slaying. She could not find anything that showed any evidence of vampire.

She walked to the end of the alleyway and was turning back around when she saw someone standing behind the drop ladder. Freezing for a moment, she stood there holding eye contact with the stranger until he moved.

"Hey wait! Don't leave. Who are you?" she said moving closer to him.

"Moldovan family," he said.

"What? Who?" she asked.

"Moldovan family," he repeated.

He disappeared before she could ask who they were. He left her standing there in the dark alleyway pondering. _Who is the Moldovan family? What do they have to do with the murders? Looks like I'm doing some research._ Leaving the alleyway, she hailed a cab and headed home. Before lying down to bed, she made a mental note to research the Moldovan family.

The next day she headed off the public library. The subject index did not have any information about the Moldovan family. The name Moldovan did not exist according to the history records. _Strange. It seems as if they never existed. Maybe that man was throwing me for a loop. Throwing me off my path to find out the truth,_ she thought.

Giving up on the library, she headed to the computer room and took a seat at a desk. She typed in the family name but very few results came through.

After a few hours of research, she found out in old Eastern Europe text that the name was Romanian. Searching old Romanian families, she came across a very small bit of information about them.

The Moldovan family was established as far back as the 15th century. Born in Piteşti, Romania starting in 1465, they lived there until to 1490 where they fled to Pécs, Hungary in 1491 where they lived for 7 years then fled to the Porto San Giorgio in 1498. After fleeing to Genoa, Italy, they established themselves as wealthy merchants & bankers. They eventually became a supplier of luxury goods and art and bankers at the Bank of St. George or Ufficio di San Giorgio in Genoa.

The Moldovan family contained two brothers and two sisters. Many people feared them because of the rumors of the dark and strange activity around the family's homestead. A servant found out their secret and they tortured the man until he was declared crazy. Having diplomatic/nobility immunity, they escaped from the persecution of being tried and hanged.

Squealing slightly, she nearly fell out of her seat with excitement, she printed out the paper and headed out of the library. Grabbing another cab, she headed back to her apartment and developed the pictures from earlier. While she was developing the pictures, a thought crossed her mind_. If the Moldovan family hasn't been seen since the 16__th__ century, then how would they have killed those people? The only way that could happen is if they were vampires._ When the answer hit her, she almost dropped the pan in the floor. Vampires did exist. Now she just needed to find them and talk to them.

Later that afternoon, the pictures were finally dry and she decided that talking to Shayne might help him with the case. Giving him some valuable information, might make up the fact that she had followed him. She decided against bringing all her research and left her place.

Taking a cab, she had the driver take her to his Central Park loft/office. Maybe when he saw her, he would not shut the door on her. About fifteen minutes later, she arrived at his place and paid the driver. Getting out, she prayed this was not a mistake talking to him. Taking the elevator up, she rehearsed what she was going to say to him. Everything she came up with sounded stupid and would irritate him.

Getting out of the elevator, she walked to his door and paused. She could not do this. He hated her. What would she say to him? She turned to head back to the elevator when the door opened. There was Shayne standing there looking all sweaty. Swallowing hard, she opened her mouth to say something but nothing came out. What the hell was wrong with her? Maybe it was the sight of him looking all sweaty.

"What do you want? I'm busy," he said.

"I just wanted to tell you that I think I may know who killed those people," she offered.

"Okay, who?" he asked.

Looking around the hallway, she said, "Can we talk inside?"

Sighing, he opened the door and let her in. she walked into the room and looked around. He lived very well for a PI. Maybe she should become a PI too. She heard him close the door and walk past her. Maybe he was busy, he sure acted liked it.

"Shayne? Where are you?" she heard a voice call. A young busty brunette walked out of the bedroom and looked at him questioningly.

"I'll be there in few minutes," he told her.

"I'll be waiting," she said walking back into the room.

"Okay, make it quick," he said sharply turning back to her. Lucy looked at him disgusted.

"I think I may have found out who killed those people. I went back to the crime scene the other night and saw a stranger there. He told that some family named "Moldovan" killed them. I have no idea what he was talking about until I did some research this morning. According to the article, the Moldovan family has not been seen since the 16th century. Now I am curious is to how they killed these people when they are not around anymore?" she explained.

"What do you want me to tell you? I don't know. Maybe the man was lying to you. I will take it into consideration that you took time out of your busy stalking schedule to do this kind of work. However, I remember clearly telling you to stay out of it and you did not. You went back to the crime scene and investigated. What would you have done if that man had tried to kill you? Huh?" he said angrily.

"Listen I didn't come here for you to berate me and treat me like a child. I came here to tell you what I found. I thought it might help and you might be nice about it. But no, you are not," she spat. She turned and started walking away when he came and grabbed her arm.

"Where are you going?" he asked.

"I am going home. Remember your friend is waiting," she snarled. She opened the door and walked out leaving him there. Sighing, he turned around and walked into the bedroom.

Getting back onto the elevator, she wanted to scream. She was furious at him! How dare he say something like that to her?! All she wanted to do was help and make up for the stalking and he had to be an ass to her. Taking a cab back to her apartment, she sat there furious the whole way home.

When she arrived, she walked to her door and saw something taped on the front of it.

"_Stop your investigations. This is your only warning!"_

Reading the note twice, she crumpled it up and walked into her house. Tossing the note into the trash, she sat down and looked over the photos again. The man she had seen the other night was not in any of them. It was strange. How did he know about the Moldovan family if he wasn't part of them? Sighing, she sat the stuff down and flipped on the TV.

Two days later, she was walking up the steps to her apartment building when she was grabbed from behind. Screaming, she tried to fight them off but it was no use. She was theirs. She felt something come up and hit her on the head and then she saw black.

**Chapter 2**

Her head was pounding when she woke up. Blinking her eyes several times, she could barely make out the room. She shook her head gently to re-focus herself and the situation. She was alone, tied to a chair, in what looked like a dungeon. She twisted her hands around to loosen the knots, but could not.

"You know you should never meddle in things that aren't any of your business," the dark figure said coming into the small patch of light.

"Let me go," Lucy said struggling against the ropes.

"Now, now don't struggle. It would not help anyhow. Now why are you investigating my family?" The figure asked.

"I wasn't investigating anything. I don't know what you're talking about," Lucy said.

"Miss Adams, do not lie to me. I know when you lie. You have been following my family around for weeks now. You have been taking pictures, video and audio recording. I have the evidence with me right here," he said tossing the evidence on the floor in front of her feet.

Lucy stared at the evidence in disgust. Knowing she was caught, "Yes I have been following your family. I wanted to know more about the murders that took place a few weeks ago."

"They were not murders. They were the carelessness of some of my entourage," he said.

"Regardless, people were murdered. Who do you think you are letting your 'entourage' killed innocent people?" she shouted.

"You insufferable human! You will not speak to me like that!" he shouted back at her. Sighing, he turned and left the room. Lucy looked around wildly trying to figure out how she could get out. She struggled with the ropes again, but with no luck.

Suddenly the lights went out and Lucy was covered in darkness. Letting her eyes adjust, she tried to see into the darkness, but with no luck. Hearing a scream, she turned her head in the direction. Not figuring out where the scream came from she tried to make herself more comfortable.

She shivered slightly the room was cold and her wrists were starting to hurt from her bonds. Thinking carefully she tried to think of ways to escape. Even if she could escape, the captors would not let her go. Twisting her arms around again, she tried to escape once again. Wriggling her wrists, she suddenly felt a sharp pain on her wrists.

"Ouch," she cried stopping her movements.

Stepping out the shadows, a young, but beautiful girl emerged. Her long black hair flowed down her back, but you would not notice anything about her except her piercing green eyes. They were striking in a way that could size you up or lust after you.

"Mmm...I smell blood. Sweet precious blood, such blood should not be wasted," she said coming closer to Lucy.

Flinching from the girl, Lucy struggled once again to release herself from her bonds. She watched the girl walk behind her, take out a knife, and cut her bonds. Scrambling away from the girl, Lucy tried to run but the girl grabbed her and held her while Lucy struggled for freedom.

"Who are you?" Lucy cried.

"My name is not important, but your blood is," the girl said spinning Lucy around and grasping her hair and neck tightly. The girl bent her head forward, her mouth brush Lucy's throat and prepared to bite down.

"Brigita, don't," said a female voice emerging from the darkness, "Alexandru does not want her marked."

"But I'm hungry and she is food…" Brigita started.

"I don't care if you're hungry. We have liquid refreshment for that. Now leave," said the female. Growling at the woman, Brigita left slamming the door behind her. Lucy stood there dazed. Was the woman really going to bite her? Drink her blood? Vampires were supposed to be fiction, not real. Although, she was on a mission to prove that vampires were real.

The woman turned to her and smiled. "Forgive my sister. She is rather cranky when she does not feed. What do you want with my family?" she asked.

"Nothing. I don't want anything to do with your family," Lucy replied.

"Liar. I know you're lying to me," she advanced on Lucy gripping her neck, "So please tell me the truth. I don't want to have to hurt you."

Cowering a little, "Okay, I just want to know who you are. Who your family is."

"That's not the whole truth, but I'll accept it. For now. My family is not important to your research. My brother informs that you have been watching my family since a few humans showed up dead. Is that right?" she asked Lucy.

Wincing at the accusations, Lucy succumbed to the truth, "That is right. I have been following your family since a few humans turned up dead. I wanted to know more."

The woman sneered at her, "Knowing more will get you killed. Don't you know that? Our way of life is none of your business. You should be killed for your snooping; however, that is not what is planned for you," she said flinging Lucy across the room.

Landing on her right arm, Lucy struggled to get up. Searing pain shot through her arm as she flexed it to see if it was broken. Thankfully, it was not. This side of the room was darker and Lucy was not prepared to face anyone. The woman grabbed her again and tossed Lucy against the wall. Her head hit the wall and she lost consciousness.

A few hours later, Lucy awoke, tied up again. She looked around and saw that she was in the same room. She was hurting all over and felt dizzy every time she moved her head. Fear swept her as she heard dripping water and clanging chains in the darkness; what was going too happened to her? Breathing quietly, she tried to stay as calm as she could. She nearly screamed when an oddly shaped man came up to her and lifted her to her feet.

He stared at her for a moment and growled at her. She took it as a sign to not move. The man was so grotesque, horribly disfigured. It looked as if half of his body had been burned and beaten. He stepped closer to her and sniffed her? Recoiling from his presence, she tried to not throw up.

"Georgi! Leave her alone. She is not your new play toy," when he didn't step back, "I said leave her alone. We'll find you another toy to play with," said a male voice. Georgi stepped away from her and stormed out of the chamber. Lucy stood there terrified. She wished she could run, but she could feel someone behind her. She turned quickly and saw the same man from earlier.

"So you must be Alexandru," she asked scathingly.

"Yes I am. You should treat me with more respect. My sister tells me you wanted to know more about my family. What do you really want to know?" he asked her.

"I want to know why all the victims were drained of all their blood. There is no possible way for that to be; there were not any puncture holes. So what really happened?"

"You tell us. Since you're so smart." Brigita said.

"Brigita, be quiet," Alexandru said.

Avoiding her question he said, "When will you humans learn to keep your nose out things that aren't any of your business?"

"I don't know. Maybe when people stop dying mysteriously. Maybe when we, humans, get answers to those questions," Lucy replied mockingly.

"That earned you another punishment," Alexandru said slapping her hard across the face. Lucy's face whipped to the side and she thought for a moment that her jaw was broken. Clamping her teeth together, she turned to face Alexandru. Spitting blood on the floor, she looked at him in disgust.

"Quit hitting me," she said.

"Or what? What will you do to me?" he said mocking her, "You are a waste of human. I should kill you now." He took out a knife and dangled it in front of her. He slid the knife's edge against her throat gently. Teasing her a bit. Sweat broke on her forehead; her pulse started racing. She did not dare look around lest one of the others thought her coward. It became a contest to see who would flinch first. She was not about to give him the satisfaction of hurting her anymore. They stood there for a few minutes more. The silence so thick that she should could barely breathe.

"No, I don't think I'll kill you. You will live. You will run back to your PI and you will leave us alone. You will tell your PI to abandon this case. You will forget about my family or your research. Do you understand?" Alexandru said putting the knife away.

Almost sighing from relief, Lucy closed her eyes briefly. The sister walked behind her and untied her. Now free of her bonds, she looked at the family and started walking toward the exit.

"Oh and Miss Adams, please don't piss us off again. Next time we will not be so lenient," Alexandru said. Nodding, she turned around and opened the door to leave. As she was walking up the corridor, she felt something hit the back of her head. Next thing she knew she saw darkness.

**Chapter 3**

Walking into his kitchen, Shayne turned on the TV to watch the news. When he found the channel he wanted, he went back into the kitchen to get him a drink. He nearly spit blood all over the counter top when he heard the news report.

"Now in other news, 26 year old Lucy Adams went missing last night from her West 59th apartment. She has been missing since early last night. There were no witnesses at the scene. No word from her or from the New York Police. More later as we keep updated on this story. This has been Fox 5 News reporting."

Rewinding the news report, he watched again. This time listening very carefully. She was gone. Lucy had been kidnapped. He remembered the fight they had the other day and what she told him. Finishing his drink, he threw some clothes on and headed to Klein Enterprises. Maybe Nikolas would be up and would have answers.

Driving to Klein Enterprises, he was nearly stopped for speeding. Parking his car in the lower garage, he headed upstairs to Nikolas's office. Taking the elevator up, he waited for an eternity to get to the top floor. Stepping off the elevator, he passed Isabel's office, looking in; he made sure she was in there so that he would not be interrupting anything between her and Nikolas. Sighing, he saw her in there on the computer. He walked into Nikolas's office and started talking.

My phone rang. How many times was it going to ring today? This was the sixth time today. If it was not business, it was the idiots worked under me downstairs. Sighing, I picked it up expecting another business call or another business call.

"Thank you for calling Klein Enterprise, this is Isabel, how may I help you," I said speaking into the phone.

"Isabel? Is Nikolas around? It's Noah," I heard him say.

"Hey Noah, uh, no Nikolas isn't around. Do you want me to connect you?" I asked.

"No, I wanted to talk to you in private," he said.

"All right. What's up?" I asked leaning back in my chair.

"Do you know a Lucy Adams?" he asked.

"Lucy Adams. No, I do not think I do. Why?" I asked.

"Well she's turned up missing. She is some author. I do not know. I don't follow her story line," he said.

"I hear you. I do not follow the new stuff much anymore either. Oh wait, I do know her! When did she go missing?" I asked him.

"Early last night. I thought you said you didn't know who she was?" he asked.

"Yea, I didn't think so too, until you said author. She's been following Shayne around since he took that case a few days ago. He has already complained about her. She seems like a nice girl, but very persistent about vampires. I had lunch with her the other day and she interrogated me until I finally told her to stop," I explained.

He laughed. "Well interrogated or not, she needs to stop what she is doing or she will find out about vampires. Nosy humans. Never learn, do they?"

"Hey, human you're talking too here," I exclaimed.

"But you're different. You already know that vampires exist. You know how to keep a secret," he said.

"True. Well it looks as if I am going to be asking some questions in that office," I said.

"All right. I will let you go. Better Nikolas, than me. Tell Nikolas that he and I need to go golfing sometime soon," he said.

"I will tell him. Bye Noah." I said.

"Bye," he said hanging up the phone.

I sat back in my chair and thought for a moment. Why did no one tell me about this? Of course, it was vampire business and Lucy was not a freshie. Nikolas was not known to keep secrets from me; except for my marks, but he confessed to that, and I do not know if he knew or not about Lucy's disappearance. I could call around to find out if the police know anything, but my best bet would to go straight to the source.

Brigit walked into my office and sat down. This wasn't unusual because she always did this when she wanted to gossip and not work. Either way was fine with me. I wasn't in the mood to work right now, but I wasn't in the mood to gossip either.

"Did Noah call you?" she asked leafing through a file.

"Yes he did call me. Told me about Lucy disappearance," I said snatching the file away.

"Terrible thing. I know you had lunch with her the other day," she said.  
"Yes, it is a terrible thing. I don't know if Shayne knows or not," I said opening a cabinet to search for something.

"Why would he want to know? She was following him around, asking questions," she said rolling her eyes.

"Well yes, she was following him, but that doesn't mean he has to be cold hearted about it. She told him that her information was going in her new book. Something about crime scenes and criminology. I don't think Shayne believed her and now she's disappeared," I said.

"Don't you think that's strange? She investigates a murder scene for her new book and then she goes missing?" she asked.

"Yes, I do find it odd, but I'm not the PI. That's Shayne's job," I said smiling, "I'm tempted to walk into Nikolas's office and find out what is going on. Or call Shayne."

"Well why don't you? If you want to know, then walking into that office isn't going to hurt. The only thing they can tell you is that they don't know anything," she pointed out.

"Good point. I think I will," I said.

"All right, I'll be in my office if you need me," she said getting up. I watched her leave my office before I decided to head down to Nikolas's office for information. Routing my calls to my mobile, I walked out the door and walked to his office.

"Would somebody tell me why the hell Lucy is missing?" I asked walking into Nikolas's office.

Nikolas and Shayne turned to stare at me. Looks like I interrupted something. Good. I am glad I did. I had to find out from Noah that she was missing. Why was no one telling me?

"Well?" I asked coming closer to the desk.

"Umm…Isabel, we, uh…." Shayne started.

"Oh no, don't give me that. I want to know why I had to hear the news from Noah instead of hearing it from you," I said angrily.

Nikolas came around the desk, placed his arms around my waist, pulled me close to him, kissed my neck gently and said, "I was going to tell you when we found out more information. All right?"

"All right. So, what have you found out," I asked shivering a bit.

"Not much. No note, no call, nothing except that she was taken early last night. I looked over the crime scene and found nothing but blood. Her blood. Who ever took her knew I was a vampire and/or a PI. They knew we were together two days ago," Shayne explained.

"Okay, but that doesn't explain why they took her. It does not add up. I mean why take her. If you want more information, take someone like me; someone who knows stuff," I exclaimed.

"Thankfully, no one took you," Nikolas said looking at me with relief.

"I guess so. It just doesn't make sense," I said.

"No, it doesn't make sense. Unless who ever took her knew that she was looking for something. That could be my only guess," Shayne said.

"Well, she shouldn't be snooping in things that aren't her business. If she is searching for vampires, she could get lucky and piss off someone. There are still families out there that do not like prying humans. Most humans learn the hard way," Nikolas said.

"No, I am going to find her. I have to find her before some "family" kills her," Shayne said walking toward the door.

Nikolas grabbed him by the arm. "No, Shayne, you let the other families deal with this. Let the older vampires deal with this. Stay out of it," Nikolas warned.

Ignoring his warning, Shayne walked out of the office. Sighing, Nikolas turned to me and gave a small smile. I did not ask questions, there were some things I would rather not know. Kissing him lightly on the mouth, I turned to walk out and head back to my office. Closing my eyes, I could feel his eyes following my body. Within seconds, I could feel his hands slide down my bare arms. Gasping slightly, my neck arched as he placed light kisses down my throat.

"We can't Nikolas," I said moaning as his hands slipped under my blouse.

"I know, but I can't help myself. I need you, I always need you," he growled.

Holding me steady, he backed us further into the room. Spinning me around, he lifted me on the desk and lowered me down. Moaning quietly, he ran his hands on my outer thighs, fingers skimming inside my skirt. He kissed my breasts before plunging his fangs into my neck.

Gasping quietly, I closed my eyes and reveled in the sensations that were running through my body. I tangled my fingers into his hair and pressed his mouth further into my neck. The more he feed on me the more I moaned. After a few minutes, his mouth departed from my neck and I groaned from disappointment.

My body was aching for him now. I loved it when he teased me, but I also hated it. We hardly had any alone time and these few times of intimacy were hard on us. The urge to make love was tempting, but we had work. Sadly, work came first.

He stepped back as I sat up and hopped off the desk. I could see it in his eyes that he did not want me to leave. That he did not want to finish the rest of the workday. He would rather have us in bed for the rest of the afternoon and night. We could not touch each other, lest we gave into temptation.

Sighing, I walked toward the door, not looking back. Closing the door behind me, I walked back into my office, leaned against the door before sitting down. A few minutes later, I was clicking away on my computer and then my phone rang.

**Chapter 4**

Storming out Nikolas's office, he could not believe the Nikolas would say that about Lucy. Sure she as annoying and could not keep her nose out of my business, but she was missing and it was partially my fault. If I had not have been an ass to her two days ago and taken her words seriously, she would not be gone now.

"I got to find her," he mumbled to himself.

Thinking quickly, he got on the elevator to go down. A few minutes later, he was in his car driving around and drove back to the crime scene. Getting out of his car, he shielded his face from the sun and walked into the alleyway. Taking note of the scenery, he could not figure out what she had been looking for. It was not any use to walk down the alleyway and try to investigate anymore.

Getting back in his car, he drove to Lucy's apartment. Stepping over the tape, he snuck in and looked at the mailboxes to find her apartment number. Finding it, he walked up the stairs to the door. Jiggling the doorknob, he found that it was still locked. That is odd. Normally the cops busted into the victim's home to search for evidence. Crouching down, he pulled out his lock-picking equipment and started to pick the lock, but then stopped.

Rolling his eyes, he put the stuff back in his pocket and walked back down stairs. There was an easier way to do this. Stepping outside, he walked around the building and seeing an open window; he jumped and hoisted himself up and inside her apartment. Looking around her apartment, he started searching for the Moldovan information. Looking in her file cabinet he did not find anything, he looked under some files on her desk and still he did not find anything. He walked into her bedroom, looked under the bed, and found a large box. Pulling it out he opened it and found what he was looking for.

There were a few pictures of no consequence and old audio tapes. Opening up a folder, he found the Moldovan family biography that Lucy must have copied from the library. Reading it over, he called Nikolaus. Maybe he would know something about it. Pulling out his phone, he called up Nikolas.

"Hey Shayne, where are you?" Nikolas asked.

"I'm at Lucy's apartment. Hey do you know anything about the Moldovan family?" he asked

There was silence on the other end of the line for a few long minutes. Shayne looked at his phone and saw that he was still connected to the call.

"Nikolas, hello? Are you still there?"

"Yes, I'm still here. Listen to me very carefully Shayne; the Moldovan family is very dangerous and very powerful. If they have Lucy then she is probably already dead. You need to stop this. Go home and have a drink. If you try to go after them, they will kill you. Do not doubt me on this," Nikolas warned him.

"I don't believe you," Shayne said hanging up.

He took the pictures, the audio tapes, and the biography page, put them back in the box, and took them with him as he left. Going back to the window, he jumped out and landed on asphalt below. Getting back in his car, he started the car and drove home. He could hear Nikolas's words run through his head and could understand the warning but he could not leave Lucy to die. If she died, it would be his fault and he would hate himself for it.

He pulled up to his apartment complex and carefully hiding the box, he went up to his place. He almost expected to see one of the family members standing in his living room; either them or Nikolas. Sitting down at his desk, he pulled out the pictures and flipped through them. Nothing that could help or be dangerous to Lucy. He took out an audio tape and listened to the first one. It was him talking to witnesses from a few days earlier. Those would not help either.

Sighing, he took a break and decided to go hunt for her the old-fashioned way. He would have to scour the streets until he found her or found the location of the family's hideout. His phone rang and he noticed it was the girl from two days ago. Putting it on silent, he tossed it on his desk while he went to get a drink. Deciding tonight would be best to go search for her. He would either find her alive or find her dead. He was hoping it was the former and not the latter.

Later that afternoon, he took to the backstreets of New York. All of his old hidden haunts. Maybe he would find her here. Two hours into the search, he had not found her. He tried everywhere he could think of: Chinatown, Little Italy, Little Havana, Korea town, both the Harlem and the Spanish Harlem and she was nowhere to be found.

He kept walking down the streets, pausing to look in the alleyways as he passed, but still did not find her. He was beginning to think that she was dead, but then he passed an alleyway near Park Place in the Tribeca area and smelled blood.

Walking down the street, he saw a body lying on the ground. Rushing to the body, he saw that it was Lucy. Crouching down, he listened for a heartbeat. Hearing it, he picked her up and took her back to his car—, which was about five blocks away. Maybe none one will notice that she was bloodied up.

About 20 minutes later, they reached his car. Opening the back door, he laid her down in the backseat, got into the driver's seat, and sped off. Half and hour later, he made it back to his place. Parking the car, he got out, gently lifted Lucy out of the car, and took her upstairs.

Kicking his door open, he laid her on the couch while he went to get his first aid kit. Coming back into the living area, he looked at her and sighed. This was going to be fun when she woke up. Careful not to wake her, he doctored her up as much as he could without taking all her clothes off. He would have to find out where else she was injured when she woke up.

Finishing his doctoring, he took the stuff back into the bathroom, came back with a warm blanket, wrapped it around her, and left her there to sleep. Nearly yawning, he went upstairs and went to the freezer. The cold would definitely do him some good.

Early the next morning Lucy woke up with a splitting headache. Looking around her, she did not know where the hell she was. It was starting to scare her. The world was a bit fuzzy and her eyes were hurting as well. She tried moving but her ribs stopped her from moving too much. Seeing how she was trapped there, she laid back down and tried to sleep again.

He woke up with a start. He heard a buzzing sound. What was that noise? Was that his phone buzzing? Using his hands to search he found his phone inside the freezer. How it got there, he did not know. Picking it up he saw that it was Nikolas.

"Do you ever sleep," he asked Nikolas.

"No. Now did you find her?" Nikolas asked.

"Yes I did find her. She is alive. She's downstairs on my couch, why?" he said.

"Good. I want to be there when she starts asking questions about vampires. Noah wants to be there too and so did Isabel, but I told her no even after she tried to convince me," Nikolas said in a rush.

"I don't need you to tell me that Isabel tried to 'convince you' to do anything. You would do anything and everything for her," Shayne stated.

"Yes, well I want to be there tomorrow. I will see you there," Nikolas said hanging up.

"Umm…okay. See you then" Shayne said into the silent receiver.

Opening the freezer door, he tossed the phone on the floor. He prayed that it would not buzz again. Lying back down, he closed his eyes and in minutes, he was out again.

Several hours later, Lucy woke up again. Her head was not hurting too badly but she was still in pain. She opened her eyes and saw someone looming over her. Screaming she started to defend herself when she noticed it was Shayne.

"Oh my! What are you doing here?" she asked.

"I live here, remember? Here's some aspirin," he said handing her a glass of water and two aspirin.

Taking them from him, she popped them both and looked around. Shayne moved to sit down in the chair across from her and that is when she noticed two other men standing there. Looking at them warily, she sat the glass down on the table and tried to straighten herself. Winching at the pain from her ribs, she moved slowly until she was in a sitting position.

"Ribs hurt?" Shayne asked. She nodded. "We'll wrap that later, okay?" When she nodded he again, he relaxed and signaled for the two men to come and sit down. They sat down and looked at her. She shivered. She did not like the way they were staring at her.

"Okay, so how did I get here?" she asked.

"I found you and brought you back here. You were in a mess. Do you remember what happened?"

"Yes, well sort of. It is all kind of a blur now. All I remember is being taken from my home and woke up in some kind of dungeon like room. There were people there, one wanted to bite me. I remember seeing four of them; two male and two female. I remember being tossed across the room a few times and then they threatened to kill me. Then I woke up here," she explained.

"I'm surprised they let you live…"

"Nikolas, we don't want to scare her," Shayne said turning to the man sitting beside him.

"I'm just saying…." he said.

"I know these people were dangerous and I wasn't looking for them, but they did confess to killing those people from your case, Shayne. Who are they?" she asked.

"They are who you researched. They are still around. The Moldovan family has been around for centuries. They have connections all over the world and are not easy to find. Those that find them are subjected to pain and interrogation. They find you, not the other way around. Like I said, I'm surprised they let you live," Nikolas explained.

"So how have they been around for centuries?"

"Because they…because they are vampires. That's how." Shayne said.

Her eyes widened. Vampires were either real or they were lying to her. Each looked so serious that she could not help but not to believe them.

"You're telling me the truth, aren't you?" she asked.

"Yes we are. Vampires are real…" he started.

"Are all of you vampires?"

They stopped and looked at each other. She could see their mouths moving but no sound came out. What were they doing? Reading lips? They each nodded to one another and Shayne turned to look at her.

"Yes, we are all vampires."

She paled a little. He was not joking. Vampires were real and she was sitting in a room with three of them. A thought crossed her. She could ask them questions for her novel.

"I can see the wheels turning in your head and no we are not going to answer questions for you to put in your novel." Shayne said.  
"Damn. A girl can always try." She said smiling.

Leaning forward, Nikolas looked at her. "Now you have to swear on your life that you will never tell anyone what we have told you. If you do tell, I'll personally drop you off Pier 59 and into the Hudson River and let you sink."

She paled again. This guy was serious. He really would kill her if she told. She looked frantically at Shayne but he carried the same expression as his friends. They were all serious.

"Oh oh...ok, I swear I'll never tell anyone! Ever. Not even in the afterlife!" she vowed.

"Good, I see we agree," Nikolas said smiling, "Shayne, I'll call you about some business." He turned to the other man, "Noah, you ready? I am sure Brigit is waiting. I know Isabel is. Promised her I would not work today. Never know why I make those kinds of promises." They both laughed as if it were some kind of inside joke. They left leaving Lucy and Shayne alone.

"So, yea, they also told me "You will tell your PI to abandon this case. You will forget about my family or your research. Do you understand?" I can't believe I remember that verbatim," she said giggling.

"Really? Well it is a good thing that all the evidence is gone. I will stop my investigations and call it a closed case," he said, "Now, we will wrap those ribs up and I'll take you home. How's that?"

She nodded. Everything was going to be okay. She could keep the secret and maybe she would start on a different subject for her novels. She needed to get out of the crime scene and murder mystery genre. She nearly got herself killed this time, what would happen if she tried it again?

Smiling as she looked at Shayne bringing back the gauze to wrap her up, she decided it was best to start over. Maybe this time with a certain PI vampire?


End file.
